Lucy Hyde

Do people tell you how good you are at coping? Do you feel like you put on a smile and a brave face but wonder if sooner or later you're going to get 'found out'? Perhaps you're struggling to manage changes that you tell yourself aren't anything to get upset about, but they FEEL big. Maybe you don't know what's wrong, but feel stressed, anxious, burnt out or unsettled.

Would you like to learn more about the internal dynamics of your inner Parent (self-critical, telling us what we’re doing wrong) and inner Child (trying to please others, anxious about mistakes) and the effect they’re having on your life? By talking about your present-day relationship patterns, and earlier life experiences and messages received, we can bring real understanding of challenges you may be experiencing in your life, and of your emotional reactions. I can help you build your self-compassion, and discover that you can love yourself.

I have particular interests in working with anxiety, including climate change anxiety, and also in working with autistic women and non-binary people, those who wonder if they may be autistic, and people who – in whatever way – feel like they don’t fit in. I have experience and interest in working with individuals living with a long-term or life-limiting condition, and with their carers and family members.  

As well as offering counselling, I teach Inner Relationship Focusing on a one-to-one basis. Inner Relationship Focusing is a self-help practice which can be transformative in developing your relationship with parts of you that you ignore, squash or suppress. It can be particularly useful if you feel numb or struggle to make contact with feelings, and equally if you are sometimes overwhelmed by emotions. Inner Relationship Focusing is particularly successful to develop your ability to manage anxiety, trauma responses and the inner critic.

Counselling online

I offer online text-based counselling by email and instant messaging / chat, as well as web-cam and phone counselling.

Online counselling can be a good option if you find it difficult to keep a regular appointment, if you travel a lot, or if you have a mobility problem or a disability which would make it difficult for you to get to face to face counselling. For couple counselling, it can also offer more flexibility if one of you works away a lot, or if you find it difficult to make appointments at the same time.

If you haven’t tried therapy before, and are comfortable using a computer, text-based counselling might be an easier first step – where you don’t feel so self-conscious – if you find the idea of sitting in front of someone you don’t know a bit scary. Web-cam and phone counselling is a bit more like 'traditional' counselling because we're speaking to each other, although it's not quite the same as being in the room together.

Walk and talk

Being outside in nature can have a beneficial effect on your mental health as well as on your physical health. With walk-and-talk therapy we can harness this relaxing quality of nature, integrating it into the counselling process. My own experience is that deepening my connection with nature has a restorative effect, both physically and mentally, and I want to be able to offer this experience to you too through walking counselling.

How can counselling help?

Whatever the reason that you’ve decided to look for a counsellor, therapy can probably help you feel better, or help you get in touch with your emotions. Often the changes you make may be small, but can still significantly improve your life.

Therapy can provide a safe space where you can open up and explore what’s going on for you. You might want to focus on something very specific, or you might not be sure what it is that you need.

Once you get in touch, I like to find out a little about why you’ve decided to seek counselling, and we can discuss how you'd like to work (online, in person, outdoors) - I can send you a form by email or we can have a chat over the phone, whichever feels more comfortable.

The relationship between client and therapist is different each time, but we will work together to figure out what is going on for you and to help you to become more aware of where habits of thinking, feeling or behaviour may not be working for you as well now as they have in the past. I don’t normally give advice, but I may offer tips or ways for you to think about how you react in certain situations.

Who am I?

I have a background in customer service and human resources and have a long-standing interest in relationships and communication. I have worked or volunteered in organisations of various sizes from the global financial sector to small charities. I have first-hand experience of adjusting to life in a different country.

I’m passionate about how we can get comfort, nourishment and nurture by engaging with nature and the outdoors and believe strongly that humans are an integral part of the ecosystem – not separate from nature – and that we need to connect to the world around us to keep our spirit healthy.

When working with clients, I like to pay attention to the very young – and sometimes scared – child who is still there inside all of us, and to think about how we can take that small child by the hand and bring them with us, rather than pushing them away.

I have experience in working with people adjusting to living with long-term conditions; both people diagnosed (or sometimes NOT diagnosed) with a long-term condition and their loved ones or family members.

Individuals:

If you think I'm the right counsellor for you, but you can't afford my fee, please get in touch as I sometimes have reduced-fee spaces. 

I don't charge for an initial chat, to find out more about what you want, and whether I think I'll be able to help.

£60 per session whether in person, or online via webcam, email and instant messenger. All sessions are 50 minutes in duration.

Please get in touch if you have any questions at all, I welcome enquiries even if you're not sure if you're ready for counselling at this stage.

I have a limited number of reduced fee sessions available.